Wednesday, 27 November 2013

Slowww cooked
chicken in a sauce that’s full of deep, smoky, almost chocolaty flavours and
that delivers a chilli laden punch to excite but not comatose your taste buds ! Wipe that drool from your chin Sir/Madam, if you crave some Mexican variety in
your diet and “old el paso”
doesn't do it for you, this one pot wonder is for you

A Chipotle
chilli, pronounced “Chee-POAT-lay” which when said with a Stoke accent sounds
perfect, is a smoked jalapeño. You can buy them in most supermarkets in little
sealed pouches, which, when opened, produce a delightfully pungent dark smokey
aroma.

When you couple this with some chicken and add a sweet yet spicy Mexican
salsa you get flavour combination to dazzle and excite the most educated of
palates

This is another
simple and slow cooked dish, the likes of which I’m favouring at the moment.
The accompaniments , Salsa, Guacamole etc are also home made and may (if I can
be bothered) appear here also

I bought the
Chipotles on a whim, opened them up and instantly thought chicken , I don’t
know why , it could have easily been pork. Still chicken it was and slow
cooking was the obvious choice.

The recipe’s most
exotic ingredient is the chillies themselves, so really you've no excuse not to

Halve the
chillies and de-seed (unless you want face meltingly hot) place them in a bowl,
pour on about a cup full of boiling water and leave for 30 mins. Once softened
remove from the water and chop finely, keep the water for later.

Pre-heat the oven
to 160 Degrees

In a flame proof
casserole dish, fry the chicken thighs so that they are brown all over, remove
and add the onions, fry, stirring often until softened and brown.

Add the garlic
and fry for one minute

Next add the
tomatoes and Oregano then fry for a further min

Add the chillies,
chilli water, sugar, vinegar and stock, stir until the liquid boils. Add the
chicken again. Place in the centre of the oven and cook for about 2.5 hours,
stirring every 30 mins or so. Towards the end the chicken should start to fall
apart into chicken strings. Add the carrot and cook for a further 30 mins

Serve with
Mexican type accompaniments, the pictures show what I chose but really it’s up
to you

A Life Most Tasty

If you're reading this, the chances are you are alive, so well done you on your magnificent existence!

I would also like to wager, that a large part of the reason you’re here, is the fact that almost every single day of your life so far, you partake in an activity that is vital to your well being.

Eating is one of the most important of your daily functions, it not only gives you the energy to get through the day, its the source of all kinds of nutrients and it provides the building blocks of life.

Essentially we all have to eat to live and we do this two, maybe three times a day.

So, my theory is, why not make this most vital of daily processes an enjoyable one!

You may think cooking is not for you or that you don’t really have the skills to create your own dishes or play with flavours to dazzle the taste buds

Well actually you’d be surprised; most of us at some point in our lives have developed a dish to our liking

Think of a bacon sandwich, do you have butter on your bread, add brown or red sauce? On your chips do you put vinegar, ketchup or mayo? Each time you do something like this you’re taking the food presented to you and adapting it to your own tastes. This is essentially what cooking should be; taking ingredients and then adding what you like, because you’re the one eating it.

Despite what your parents told you it’s good to play with your food. My advice is to have a go at a new recipe and once you think you’ve got the hang of it, change it. Add more spice, add less garlic, increase the sauce or introduce a completely new ingredient.

I could prattle on endlessly about the various health benefits of making your own food and not eating takeaways or microwave meals but I won’t. There are plenty of other, far more well qualified people already doing that